Reality Check

Bethany's Mistake

Snow (by Jome)

"In an afternoon, we left it open. Kept the pages clean . . ."

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Kiel sank deeper into the shadows, crouching low behind a few bushes as he waited with growing impatience. The night was quiet and still, barely a noise to be heard besides his shallow breathing.

He had been crouched here for about an hour, just waiting for the right moment. It was nighttime, and the sun had descended into the horizon a few hours ago. Given that it was difficult to see anything at this time of day, it was the perfect time to sneak around.

It was what Kiel had been desperately craving. He needed to do something, not wait. And he'd waited long enough, nearly two weeks for this.

Finally, a dark figure appeared in front of the house he'd been watching, looking left and right before opening the door. Inside the house, the lights on the bottom level flickered on. Kiel held his breath, checked his own surroundings, then started walking across the backyard to the house's largest window.

The last day of winter break, Kiel had rummaged through his spell book, looking for the best tracking spell he could find. The Illumination of Location, as it was called. Once he found it, he cast it, picturing Oliver Bines' face in his mind. To his surprise, the location spell had not only worked, but also led him straight to the house Oliver had been staying at. Kiel suspected it wasn't actually his house, and the unfortunate people who lived there were most likely on vacation.

But Oliver wouldn't be there for long. He was leaving. Tonight.

Earlier, as Kiel had followed the path of his location spell, it was there that he devised a plan. Well . . . his plan could hardly be called a plan. Really, it just included casting a forget spell on Oliver, then getting his spell back and using thatto send Oliver back to his world.

And once Kiel got ahold of Oliver, this would all be over in moments, with or without magic. He wasn't worried about his plan backfiring. And even if everything went sour, his plans always ending up working in his favor. No way would Oliver see this coming!

"Forget spell time," Kiel said under his breath, a mischievous smile growing on his face as he crept up beside the window. He placed both hands on the bottom of the window, slowly rolling it up. Kicking the snow off his shoes, he heaved himself onto the window ledge and landed gracefully on the floor of the house.

He allowed himself a second to look around. He had climbed into a small room with a desk and a bookcase in the corner. Taking his wand-knives out, Kiel stepped out into the hallway— a fairly bright hallway, giving Kiel a major disadvantage. He assured himself that Oliver was the only one with the disadvantage. He'd be the only one losing today.

Then, Kiel heard a small grunt behind him. He whipped around, wand-knives raised. Instead, to his enormous surprise, he saw Elijah on the floor, having climbed out of the same window he'd just entered from.

Kiel's eyes widened, and in the quietest voice he could muster, he exclaimed? "Elijah! You were following me?"

Elijah brushed some snow off his pants and pushed himself off the ground, stumbling a bit. "For once, don't be an idiot, Kiel. I know what you're doing— you've had that crazy glint in your eye all week. You're going after Oliver alone, aren't you?"

Guilt rippled through Kiel. He forced a wink. "Of course I am! I'm the one with magic here." Then, at the look on his friend's face, he sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you to come. I just . . . really need to get rid of him."